Display devices connected to a network are often used to display data to a user that originates from other devices attached to the network. This process works satisfactorily when the display device is dedicated to a single Application/Device. However, problems occur when more than one network device at a time attempts to use the display device.
There are currently two main approaches for allowing multiple network devices to share a single display device. In the first approach, the display device partitions its display surface upon which the messages are displayed to the user into separate discrete areas. Each discrete area becomes dedicated to a single device/application. Any network device sending a message to the display device has its display message redirected to the portion of the display surface assigned to that network device. The result of such an approach, is that each display device has less available display surface dedicated to each device. Accordingly, the size of the message being displayed is reduced, sometimes greatly reduced. Another approach allows information to be displayed from a device when received, thereby overwriting information displayed for another device on the display surface. This approach automatically displays an incoming message upon its receipt with no prioritization factored into the display process. The problem caused by this approach is that important messages may get overwritten by less important messages. For example, in an automobile, a display device might display a warning about low fuel levels on its display surface and have the message overwritten by a warning about low windshield washer fluid levels. Since the messages aren't prioritized as they arrive, the resultant display of messages occurs in an inconsistent and haphazard fashion.
Neither of the current approaches described above provides an optimal solution to the problem of multiple networked devices sharing a single display device. Either the messages are inconsistently displayed, or the displayed messages quickly get too small to easily read.